The Kraken King Part 5: The Kraken King and the Iron Heart (Iron Seas #4.5)Meljean BrookPublished: May 13, 2014 (Avon)
Purchase at: AmazonReview source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review

Reviewed by: Amy

Rating (out of 5): 5 stars

Note from Chelsea/VBC: The Kraken King is being published as a serial with a new part offered each week. We’re such super fans of Meljean Brook’s Iron Seas series that we decided to review this as a read along. So each week you’ll get Amy’s take on the latest part and we’ll discuss it in the comments. Catch up with Part 1,Part 2, Part 3andPart 4.

At the end of Part 4 we finally figure out who’s behind the marauder attacks and their purpose. I liked Meljean Brooks’ misdirection with all Ariq’s theories on who Zenobia was when all the time Ariq, in a roundabout way, was the reason for the attacks. The attacks were done by the rebels whose ultimate goal is to get information from Ariq. They now have a perfect bargaining chip with Zenobia. As if they know nothing of The Kraken King, they assume keeping her hostage in order to get their information will work. Obviously they don’t know of his iron heart.

Part 5 picks up with Ariq “leading the rebels to the Skybreaker”. I use quotes because we all know as long as he’s alive he will avoid this at all costs. Why the rebels think he will comply is a major misstep on their parts. Truly, I never feared that Ariq wouldn’t keep his word to Zenobia about finding and rescuing her. So for me Part 5 was about how their reunion would be achieved and what possible consequences could arise from Ariq refusing to bend to their will.

Zenobia has been in the hands of Ghazan Bator for four days with no sign of Ariq in sight. After Bator confronts Zenobia about the letters and manuscripts in her pack and then destroys everything, a devastated Zenobia decides she must take matters into her own hands. Sometimes, I am brought to tears over characters dying or bittersweet farewells. I can honestly say I don’t think I’ve ever been weepy over someone burning paper, but Meljean Brook wrote Zenobia’s love for her letters, her writing and what it truly meant to her so well, that emotion and loss just jumped off the page (or the Kindle as the case may be).

Despite her loss, I was proud of Zenobia’s decision to not wait for Ariq. It showed that Zenobia as a damsel in distress would (when push comes to shove) take matters into her own hands and rescue herself. She doesn’t have to do all the escaping on her own as Ariq does make it to her before she completes her task. Their reunion is cause for much frustration, at least on Ariq’s part; I will say Zenobia fares much better.

Things are definitely heating up in more ways than one. Check back next week for Part 6: The Kraken King and the Crumbling Walls.

DISCUSSION

What has been the most surprising scene to bring you to tears, or to cause some emotional reaction, that you’ve read?

Ariq gives us more insight into the rebels. What are your thoughts on the rebels? And are they any better than that which they are rebelling against?